Day Two

It was 10 below zero this morning. I was heading for Florida, so I didn’t bring an ice scrapper. I had to use the back side of my comb to clear my windshield. My fingers got so cold I thought I had frostbite; said goodbye to the Empress Casino Hotel. It was a good stay. Made some money and met some new friends. As I left the parking lot, I thought I saw that toothless guitar player peeking at me from the second floor hotel window.

My Tom Tom GPS guide told me to get on highway 55. It was straight across Illinois to St.Louis, about 300 miles. The state is flat and featureless. Nature chipped in to help with the scenery. The bitter cold and the moisture in the air     created a fuzzy coating of frost on every tree and bush and produced a thin veil of mist. It was beautiful. I clicked on my Sirus radio and listened to some good country western songs. During the drive down I must have seen 10 or 12 state policemen writing speeding tickets. It seemed like it was a posse of cops working the freeway on a cold winter morning. I set my cruise control at 63mph. Crossed the mighty Mississippi late in the afternoon.

I got to Lisa’s house in time for dinner. It was great to be with my family again. Roger, my son-in-law helped me with some problems I was having with my lap top. Jake, my grandson, helped my with my phone problems and Lisa got my GPS Tom Tom in working order so I would not get lost in St Louis. Molly the family Labrador couldn’t stop licking me. It is great to be loved. We played pinochle. I won fifty cents. That’s two days in a row winning at gambling.